The_Four_P’S_of_Marketing_in_B.M.W.

The Four P’s of Marketing in Bayerische Motoren Werke or B.M.W. Ernesto Alcalá University of Phoenix Marketing MKT/421 Dan Capps November 26, 2011 The Four P’s of Marketing in Bayerische Motoren Werke or B.M.W. The marketing’s discipline changes rapidly; from one-dimensional dependence on public service announcements to a more advanced approach which draws from successful techniques used by commercial marketers. Instead of dictate ways to promote the product’s information to the business’ customers. The publicists tend to listen the needs and desire of its target audience building the program from there. Like any marketing process, the business’ primary focus consists to learn the needs of the people rather than trying to convince them to buy what the company produce. Today, the Marketers focus into the consumer not into the product. To perform this focus, the publicists attend the elements of the "marketing mix" or the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. As an example of marketing mix, the Bayerische Motoren Werke, Bavarian Motor Work, or B.M.W. demonstrates its effective marketing mix or four P’s mixing the exclusivity value to the elite brand, emphasizing its cars for those who desire an “ultimate driving machine.” (Russell, 2010) The social marketing or product not often offers something physical. A variety of products exist, from tangible physical products like perfumes to services as medical test, practices such as sports, and finally, more intangible ideas like recycling. To have a viable product, the people need to perceive that they have an authentic dilemma or requirement. As a consequence, the company’s product offers them a good solution to that problem. Any marketer or publicist needs to determine the consumers' perceptions of the challenge or needs to decide the necessary action or actions against it. (Weinreich, 2011). B.M.W. applies this first part of the marketing mix under the knowledge to make sure that not all of its products cannot be launch at once. For example: BMW launched the X5 model in 2000. In 2006, B.M.W. launched a new version of X5. The 3 series has 7 years of lifecycle and the 7 series has 7-years. Only the 5 series has 9 years of lifecycle. In this case, B.M.W. extended the lifecycles of its three products: the 3, 5, and 7 Series saloons. This system not only helped them to ensure a more constant income, but also allowed them to develop of replace products on a consistent basis. B.M.W. expanded its range by the attendance of new vehicles in the last few years. Many of them have been manufacturing for many years with several re-designs and re-launches (Kiew, 2010). The second part of the marketing mix refers to the Price; either monetary or intangible, it represents what the consumer needs to do in order to obtain the product. To set the price the publicists must consider many variables. If the cost prevails over the benefit for an individual, the consumer might not adopt it. However, if the benefit compensates the cost, the consumer increases his chances of adoption. Now; the social marketers balance these considerations, charging a nominal fee to increase perceptions of excellence and to give a sense of dignity to the transaction. These perceptions of costs and benefits can be determined during the research, and used to place the product in the market. (Weinreich, 2011). In the United States, B.M.W. prices its vehicles approximately from $25,000 to $60,000. Nevertheless, many factors affect its car’s prices such as engine size, motor sport, versions, etc. the B.M.W.’s research shows that its competitors such as Volkswagen, Audi, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes Benz, etc. set their 3-series cars around the same price as B.M.W. as a consequence of the car industry’s size, the production cost, and the importance of their profit (Kiew, 2010). The word “place” describes the way that the product accesses the consumer. For a tangible product, this process includes the distribution system, the warehouse, trucks, sales force, retail outlets, or places where it needs to give out for free. For an intangible product, this process passes through decisions concerning about the channels in which the information or training can be easily send to the buyers. This includes doctors' offices, shopping malls, mass media vehicles or in-home demonstrations. Knowing the activities and tendencies of the target markets, along with their experience and satisfaction with the current delivery structure, allow the publicists to identify the most ideal means of distribution for the offering products. (Weinreich, 2011). Following this principle, B.M.W. uses superior market Dealerships & Imports for non-dealer networked countries. In addition, B.M.W. has four car manufacturing plants in the United States. Only in the United States, more than 156 car dealers use the B.M.W.’s franchise to sell the company’s vehicles; furthermore, 148 car dealers use the B.M.W.’s authorization to sell Minis. Worldwide, B.M.W. perform its operations in 100 different countries with 4,000 car dealers authorize them to sell new cars, used cars, parts and after sales service products (Kiew, 2010). The marketers often take the promotion as comprising the whole of social marketing. However, this part of the “P” marketing mix combine the integrated use of advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling and entertainment vehicles. The market investigation determines the most effective and efficient instruments to reach the target audience and increase the sales. The publicists use their primary research to gain publicity for the program such as media events and news stories (Weinreich, 2011).Using the same criteria; B.M.W. has been focusing its cars’ publicity with WCRS&Co. since 1979. From 1983 to 1999, WCRS&Co and B.M.W. used the James Bond’s film such as “The world is not Enough” to launch the B.M.W.’s Z8 model before the company set the car into the market. In addition, both companies. used the movie ‘Austin Powers 3 – Gold member’ to present the B.M.W.’s Mini Cooper using the same Z8’s criteria. This publicity helped B.M.W. to position its cars and its brand to a vast audience across the world indicating the car’s characteristics like speed and technology creating an image for future customers that they have the best quality, safety, and they make a difference from others. Another example of promotion would be the B.M.W.’s films. A non-traditional concept to show consumers what makes a B.M.W. This successful concept increased the B.M.W. sales by 12.5% in 2001 comparing with the sales in 2000. These short films allowed B.M.W. to produce a free DVDs of all the series including its vehicles’ extra features. With this kind of massive promotional activities, B.M.W. positioned in mind of its costumers the desire to personalize their cars (Kiew, 2010). Finally, along with the market change, Bayerische Motoren Werke, Bavarian Motor Work, or B.M.W performs its publicist’s to focus on the four elements of the "marketing mix" or the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion to express the exclusivity significance about the selected style of cars emphasizing them for those who desire an “ultimate driving machine.” Bibliography * Kiew, M. R. (2010, September 13th). Bmw Marketing Final. Retrieved November 26th, 2011, from www.scribd.com: http://www.scribd.com/my_document_collections * Russell, A. (2010, March 03rd). Marketing Mix (Review). Retrieved November 26th, 2011, from http://uwmktg301.blogspot.com/: http://uwmktg301.blogspot.com/2010/03/marketing-mix-review.html * Weinreich, N. K. (2011). Hands-On Social Marketing A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing Change for Good Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA 91320: Sage Publications, INC.